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Insurtech Week brings together insurance startups from around the world

Brian Hemesath talks with Deborah Watkins, CEO of Carebridge International on Wednesday, October 24. (Photo courtesy of the Global Insurance Accelerator).

16 insurtech startups gathered in Des Moines last week along with technology, innovation, and business leaders from the insurance industry for a number of innovation activities put together by the Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA).

The activities included innovation presentations, co-working, networking, education and matchmaking for pilots and capital raises with the bulk of the week’s activities taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Below is an overview of the week’s main events.

Educational Sessions

On Tuesday, GIA hosted six different hour-long educational sessions intended to provide startup companies with information to help them continue to grow and succeed.

Here is a brief recap of the six sessions that took place on Tuesday:

Executive DevelopmentThis session was designed for Insurtech CEOs & Founders who seek to build executive capacity as it relates to leading a company, investor relations or selling into complex organizations.

Raising Capital When You Haven’t Raised BeforeThis session was designed for early-stage ventures who plan to raise capital for the first time.

Regulatory ConsiderationsThis session was for early-stage Insurtech companies who need to consider regulatory issues at the state or federal level.

Reasonable expectations when investing in a start-upThis session was designed for insurance companies who are considering investing in an early or growth stage venture. The presentation discussed typical problems that mature, regulated insurance companies face when investing in start-ups, and solutions to those issues.

Technical Assessments – Passing the InfoSec Test
This session talked through various information security issues that insurance companies expect an insurtech company to have resolved or be ready to address quickly.

Earning and Executing a PilotThis session was for Insurtech companies who are ready, or soon to be ready, to engage in pilots and service contracts with insurance carriers. Each presenter talked for a portion of the hour to share best practices and tangible takeaways for startups.

Startup Presentations

On Wednesday afternoon, Brian Hemesath sat down with 14 of the 16 participating startups for a Q&A-style interview presentation at the Science Center of Iowa.

The fourteen presentations were split into two sessions with a networking break in between.

The Q&A’s consisted of the startups sharing information about their backgrounds, specific challenges they’ve faced and future outlooks for their respective companies.